Love and Sad Cherubs - a Supernatural oneshot
by ellesmer.joe3
Summary: (Part 1.5 of my Aubrey/Cas series, "Of Angels and Men.) In which Team Free Will and Aubrey (OC) encounter a particularly depressed cherub. [includes teaser for Part 2.)


**I DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL OR any OF ITS CHARACTERS IN ANY WAY. i only own my OC, Aubrey Milligan.**

**P.S. please read part 1 of this series first, "Small World", because you might not understand this one.**

* * *

Aubrey hadn't expected that _she'd_ have to call on the Winchesters for help on a case, but something definitely wasn't right in Louisville, Colorado. People were dying left and right; and what was even more unnerving was that they were all couples.

Over a dozen men and women, none of them married, had either gotten themselves murdered, or had killed themselves. Didn't that seem right to anybody? Aubrey had already spoken to the townspeople and to the authorities. Now, she didn't really expect them to start believing that what was happening was something supernatural. Most had passed it off as tragic coincidences, but as a hunter, Aubrey didn't believe in coincidences. Some of the more… _uncanny_ residents had told her that there was a witch in the area, and that said witch was planning on turning the entire city into a ghost town. Aubrey had only ever dealt with a witch five times during her job, and she knew enough about the damn occult that they always used black magic either for revenge, or for fun. She'd never heard of a witch bent on levelling an entire city; not even from Sam and Dean.

She had asked the doctors if they'd found anything strange inside the victims' bodies—"strange" referring to hex bags or objects of the sort, maybe traces of ectoplasm or sulphur—but they'd found something much more peculiar.

Aubrey was never very good at biology and human anatomy, but she knew enough that it was _not_ normal for there to be markings etched on the heart.

None of the markings looked familiar to Aubrey, and she ended up sending pictures to her friends in other places. Dean immediately texted her to "hang tight". To be more exact, he'd texted these words: "On our way. No clubs for you."

Maybe she should have listened, but during the two days she waited, Aubrey thought about what she had to lose and smiled to herself. "Nothing at all." And he hadn't exactly texted her not to go to any _bars_, just not to any _clubs_. She'd only ended up having a few drinks anyway.

When she arrived back at the motel she was staying in, to her surprise and utter amusement, she found Dean's Impala parked beside her pick-up. And when she opened the door to her room, the boys were already inside, lounging on the bed.

Aubrey hid her grin as much as she could and put on her best upset face: furrowed eyebrows, intense scowl, and crossed arms. "I thought we agreed that no locks were to be picked."

Though they tried to hide it, Aubrey could see the smirks on their faces. "_I _thought we agreed that you weren't gonna go to any more clubs," Dean retorted. The brothers looked her up and down before Aubrey finally caught up to why they thought she'd gone to a club.

"I didn't go to a club," she said, rolling her eyes as she gestured out the window. "Seriously though, it's friggin' hot this time of year."

The three looked each other over for a long minute with serious expressions on their faces, before Aubrey's face finally broke into a grin. Next followed Sam, and then Dean. "It's good to see you guys again," Aubrey said, pulling each of them into a hug.

Dean laughed. "It's only been, what, two months? Three?"

"Four." Aubrey's smile turned into a frown as she retrieved the newspapers from the table at the end of the room. "I wish I could say that this meeting was going to start with drinking games and story-telling."

Sam took the folder of clippings from her. He said, "I'll be the first to say we could really use some of that right now."

Aubrey scoffed, plopping onto her bed. "How is stopping the apocalypse going for you guys anyway?"

Dean shook his head, sighing as he read the articles Aubrey had gathered with his brother. "Not so good," he said, frowning.

Then Aubrey thoughts drifted to a certain father figure. "How's Bobby?"

"Oh, you know, sitting around." The older brother took a moment to glance up at her, smiling, before looking back down at the article. "Anyway, we think we know what's been killing these couples. Well…" He shrugged. "Cas knows."

Aubrey's spirits went up immediately. "Cas?" She'd been waiting on _any_ kind of news about the angel, remembering that kiss they'd shared. But then, she remembered exactly why she'd needed some kind of comfort that night, and she found herself itching to forget. Her eyes instinctively darted to the top drawer, where she'd kept the vial of her Power.

She still hadn't made her decision.

"Yeah, Cas, you know, that angel you kissed? That guy?" When she snapped herself away from her thoughts, the brothers were looking at her with smirks on their faces, the articles still in their hands.

"Ha ha." Aubrey rolled her eyes, but she could feel a smile edging up her lips as well. She could recall the baffled look on the angel's face when she pulled away, and how she had found it completely adorable. "So, what is it? What are we dealing with?"

"We believe it's a cherub."

Aubrey jumped at the sudden new voice, craning her head at the same time to look behind her, where the voice had come from, and she could have laughed out loud when she saw that it was her favourite angel.

He looked exactly the same as the last time she'd seen him: dress suit beneath the tan trench coat, close-cropped hair, hands at his sides; though Aubrey had thought it impossible to find his eyes even more beautiful than before. But they were, and Aubrey was at a loss for words. A smile spread across her face, and she could see the angel's eyes sparkling with mirth as well, his mouth slightly open.

"A cherub," Aubrey repeated, teasing him. How would he react if she didn't greet him with a proper hello?

Apparently, hello's weren't very important in the Winchester-and-Castiel world, because he didn't seem to mind it at all. He paced from his spot by the fridge, his gaze still on Aubrey. Her stomach twisted as the familiar sensation of his stare burned through her, something she'd grown accustomed to during her misadventures with him as they wandered Ohio looking for their friends. The feeling was a good feeling. She'd almost forgotten how it felt like.

"The markings you found carved onto the victims' hearts; those were old Enochian brands. They represent a destined union," Castiel continued, and Aubrey promptly stopped her staring, concentrating enough to understand the angel's words. "Marks like that can only be placed by cherubs, a lower order of angel."

"Wait, cherubs…" Aubrey thought hard, remembering a story her father used to tell her. "Cherubs as in… _cupid_? We're dealing with _the_ cupid?"

The angel sighed. "Humans have, in fact, mistaken cherubs as the Greek personification of love, Cupid, the god." He came to stand in front of Aubrey. It seemed that the boys already knew what they were dealing with. "Cherubs are tasked with pairing important bloodlines together. As we found out only a few weeks ago, Sam and Dean's parents were meant to be together." He cast a sidelong glance at the brothers, who had begun pointing things out from the newspaper clippings. "Literally."

Aubrey stared at Castiel, putting the pieces together in her head, but there was one thing that seemed to be the odd one out. "Why is this cherub _killing_ couples, then?"

"Cherubs have been known to go rogue from time to time." It was Dean who said it, and he looked at her sternly. "I mean, it _is_ the end of the world."

* * *

It didn't take long for three hunters and an angel to notice that all the couples met at the same place, albeit at different times. "Cupid's Bar" was where it was, and it was the most cliché thing ever.

Nevertheless, they went there. The boys passed most of their time ogling the waitresses. Castiel did as well, but he didn't stare because of desire or lust as much as he did because of curiosity. At some point, while Aubrey was busy chatting with the _very_ attractive bartender—Jesse was his name—the angel had approached her.

"It seems that the women here don't know that the cupid could shoot them at any time," he said.

Aubrey sighed and put her head in her hands, trying to keep from laughing as the bartender stared at her angel friend. "Dude, there aren't any real cupids here," Jesse said. "And I'm _pretty_ sure cupids aren't even real."

Aubrey watched, barely able to contain her laughter, as Castiel said to the bartender in a serious tone, "Hugs are their form of handshakes."

Jesse stared at him for a long moment before nodding his head slowly. The look on his face was hilarious. "Sure," he drawled. Aubrey broke out in laughter, and even though she could feel two pairs of eyes on her she didn't stop until there were tears in her eyes.

When she did stop, both men were staring at her like she'd just come with a bird's nest on her head. "Okay," Aubrey said, biting her lip to keep from guffawing. "Cas, have you found him?"

"Wait." Jesse held his hand up, effectively keeping Castiel from saying what he was about to say. The bartended pointed at the angel with a weirded-out expression on his face, and Aubrey almost broke out in laughter again. "You know him?"

"Yeah," Aubrey said, looking at the angel and putting her hand on his shoulder. "This is my cousin."

"Your _cousin_…" Jesse didn't look convinced.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. _Oh well,_ she told herself. _Better act stupid with the angel than let him act stupid alone._ In fact, Jesse looked like he was done with her shit when Aubrey asked for another beer, effectively shooing him away.

She sighed, letting her hand slide from Castiel's shoulder. He stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. "I thought I was your boyfriend."

Something wheezed in Aubrey's heart, then, and it was all she could do to keep from yelping in surprise; though she was positively sure that she swayed on her feet. A blush crept up her face, and Aubrey _never_ blushed. What the hell was happening with her? "Yeah…" she started slowly, putting her hand to her forehead and shaking away the odd feeling. "You remember the concept of lying, right?" The angel nodded his head, and Aubrey offered a gentle smile. "I was lying, Cas."

He seemed to understand, and was about to say something when his head snapped to the left. His eyes darted left to right, all bemusement from his face gone. "The cupid. He's here."

"Where?" Aubrey jumped up from her seat, immediately looking around the room for a flying little boy clad in feathery diapers with a tiny bow in his hands. Nada.

"I have to restrain him," Castiel said, having to touch Aubrey's shoulder to get her attention. "You go look for Sam and Dean and meet me at the back." Before Aubrey could say anything else, the angel disappeared with the light sound of flapping wings.

As she circled the bar for the two Winchester brothers, she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to fly, remembering her brief experience at sky-diving.

When she finally found the boys—Dean was flirting up some chick and Sam was sitting idly by—Aubrey pulled them away and explained the situation. And though Dean obviously wasn't happy with the abruptness of it all, he followed her. Behind her, Aubrey could hear the brothers muttering incoherent things about rings and starvation and horses. None of it made sense to her and she decided to ignore them. They reached the door to the back. Aubrey stopped in her tracks when she heard sounds of a scuffle inside, along with a dull groaning. Dean immediately stepped up from behind her and bashed the door in. The brothers rushed inside, Aubrey behind them.

The boys stopped running abruptly. Aubrey planted her feet on the floor, but even then, she almost ran into them. "Guys?"

She heard Sam clear his throat and stood up on her tiptoes to try and see past his gigantic figure; it was to no avail, and Aubrey ended up pushing past the brothers to see what the fuss was about, but stopped as well as soon as she saw the _very_ confusing—and maybe slightly disturbing—sight before her.

In the middle of the room, the angel Castiel stood awkwardly inside the arms of a man-stranger.

The disturbing part was that said stranger was stark bare; no sign of clothes anywhere.

Aubrey just thought she was lucky that the man was facing away from them. Therefore, Castiel's face was peeking out from over the stranger's shoulder. The angel was mouthing the words "help me". Aubrey bit back her snicker and sent him a thumb's up.

But Sam wasn't as discreet. He made a choking noise at the back of his throat. "Uh, Cas? Is this our cupid?"

"Yes," the angel replied, his voice a low gurgle as Aubrey suspected the stranger's grip was rather tight. Again, she held back a bout of laughter. _This is gold._

Then the cupid let go of Castiel and turned around, and Aubrey was back to being speechless.

The stranger-cupid had long, shaggy raven black hair, a single white streak down the side. He had deep hazel eyes that pierced into Aubrey's confidence. Her gaze wavered, forcing her to look down to his bare naked body.

He was _fit_, coming with perfect muscles and copper skin. Complete with the hard jawline and intense gaze, he looked like a manlier Taylor Lautner—if that was even possible. Of course, her gaze didn't go lower than his abdomen, but Aubrey couldn't help but grin in delight when she caught a quick glimpse of his... best friend downstairs. In other circumstances, she would have gagged. But in all honesty, cupid was sexy.

The only turn-off was that he had tear streaks down his cheeks and bloodshot eyes, but otherwise, he was top model material.

And while Aubrey was staring at Sexy Cupid with a glint in her eye, the other men in the room were desperately averting their gaze. Aubrey got back enough of herself to look past the hotbod and to Castiel, who was standing quietly behind the cupid, brushing himself off. He met her gaze and she mouthed a question: "What's going on?" She was still smiling happily.

The angel sighed unhappily. "It seems that someone said he was _ugly_." His eyes followed Sexy Cupid, who was now giving out free tight hugs to Sam and Dean. Aubrey sent a curious look to Castiel, raising her eyebrows in amusement. How could Sexy Cupid be the one killing the couples?

Castiel shrugged nonchalantly back at her. "Cherubs are known to be very… sensitive."

Aubrey eyed the cherub from behind. He was now cuddling with an awkward Dean. The older Winchester sibling scowled over the cupid's shoulder, motioning with his free hand to Aubrey, for her to come forward. "Hey," he said, groaning. "We got a girl here."

Sexy Cupid let go of Dean and turned around, facing Aubrey now. She honestly didn't mind cuddling with the very, very handsome cherub, but they had to find out if he really was the one doing the killings. To do that, they first had to calm him down.

Aubrey smiled pleasantly as Sexy Cupid made his way towards her, and she was the first to hold her arms out. The cherub slipped between her arms and hugged her _tight_. The air was immediately knocked out of her lungs as the cupid wound his arms around Aubrey's torso.

"Uh, cupid?" Aubrey wheezed. "That's a little too tight—"

"I just didn't think anyone would call me that, you know?" Sexy Cupid said, sobbing into Aubrey's shoulder, but even then his voice was unquestionably deep and rich. "No one's ever called me ugly before."

The cherub was considerably taller than her, almost as tall as Sam, and Aubrey had to reach up to comb her fingers soothingly through his hair. Mostly, she just did it because she wanted to know how it felt like. "Are you kidding me?" she said, laughing lightly. But it quickly turned awkward because she could feel his Magic Stick rubbing against her stomach.

Sexy Cupid sniffed. "I'm not kidding you."

"Yeah, well…" Aubrey patted the cherub on the back, trying to be reassuring even though she couldn't get her mind off of what could have been happening _downstairs_. "Whoever said that was a real douche. You're really, _really_ cute," she said, truthful.

"Thank you," the cupid said into the crook of her shoulder. Aubrey couldn't help but notice that his breath was warm and smelled like cinnamon rolls. "That means a lot to me."

"I'm cool like that." Aubrey patted him a few more times before attempting to pull away. The cherub didn't move a muscle. She tried again, with no new results. "Hey, cupid?" she said. "You mind letting me go now?"

"Okay," Sexy Cupid replied, pulling away and letting Aubrey drop from her tippy toes. She smiled again at him, desperately trying not to look down. The cherub looked particularly happier and more satisfied with himself, then, and Aubrey knew that her work was done. She smiled up at him, patting his shoulder one last time and letting her hand slide down as an excuse to touch his beautiful body. Afterwards, she turned around and was met with the equally amused and disgusted faces of Sam and Dean Winchester. The angel Castiel only nodded his head approvingly, not seeming to understand that Aubrey was practically feeling Sexy Cupid up.

"Now then," Dean said, clapping his hands together with pursed lips. "We have some questions for you."

Suffice it to say, Sexy Cupid was guilty. He was honest and made the whole thing quicker for the hunters. When they asked, he immediately answered that he was the one who had been responsible for the dead couples. He twisted the winds of fate so that one half of the couple would die in an accident or the sort, and he would make the other half so miserable that they'd killed themselves. "I guess I was so depressed that I hated seeing someone so happy, you know?"

Aubrey had to say, cupids were adorable when they were dejected.

"That's alright," she told Sexy Cupid. "But you have to promise us you won't just start killing people again, okay? Killing is… very bad." Aubrey smiled to herself, sure that she sounded like she was talking to a child.

The cherub seemed to understand, though, and he nodded his head. "I promise." Besides, they couldn't really kill an agent of heaven, could they?

"And just remember," Aubrey added, putting her hand on his arm just to feel his muscles. "You're very, _very_ sexy."

He flashed his teeth at her confidently before she turned away, beaming in pride at the three men waiting behind her. She spread her arms in a gesture of vanity. "Who's the man?"

"Not you," Castiel pointed out.

"You know what I mean." Aubrey pursed her lips in mock disappointment and crossed her arms, looking over her shoulder at Sexy Cupid who apparently hadn't thought it best just to zap away from the scene. "Hey, cupid!" she called. "You mind shooting me up a love buddy? Being a hunter is lonesome work for _some people_." She made sure to shoot the Winchesters her 'look'. They had each other, and Aubrey couldn't exactly just join in their team. She had a reputation to uphold. Though she had to say, the idea didn't seem so bad.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a laughing cupid. "Oh, you?" he said, covering his mouth without really holding back the giggles. "Sorry, no can do."

Aubrey seriously meant it as a rhetorical request, but not her interest was piqued. Why couldn't she have a _love buddy_? "What do you mean?" she asked, glancing questioningly at the brothers and the angel behind her. "I'm gonna be single forever?" They shrugged, and she glanced back to the cherub who was only smirking, now.

He wagged his finger. "Can't tell you." Aubrey suddenly wondered if all cupids were really so shallow. She frowned at him, and Sexy Cupid held up his finger. "I can tell you this though: It's going to be a match made in heaven."

The cupid winked, and when Aubrey blinked, he was gone. She let out a frustrated whine, lumbering towards her companions. "What the hell did he even _mean_ by that?"

* * *

Their goodbyes were brief, mostly reassuring each other that they'd make sure to call if they needed help in a case. Aubrey nodded along, mostly keeping her eyes on the angel.

He stood quietly behind the brothers, and… was he blushing?

Eventually, Aubrey had to make her way to him to say goodbye. "See you around, Cas." He only nodded his head, averting his gaze. A pang of hurt flared up in Aubrey's chest, but she quickly made it fade. _Angels,_ she scoffed in her head before getting into her car and driving away, only glancing at the sideview mirror to find Dean patting the angel on the back, grinning.

* * *

TEASER (for part 2):

She had already passed the main road out of town and was speeding through the highway when her mind drifted back to the thought of her Power. She could never keep it out of her head. Sure, she would busy herself with other matters during a job, but sooner or later, the temptation kept coming back.

_The Trickster is dead,_ she kept telling herself. _You don't need to drink it anymore._ Killing the archangel who had guided her into murdering her mother was the main reason she wanted to take back her Power, so she could have the strength to kill _him_ too. But Sam and Dean had told her what happened to them in some rich-kid motel off the highway. Lucifer had been the one who killed Gabriel; some part of Aubrey wanted to thank him, but the fact still remained that he was the _devil_. You didn't simply trust the devil.

She was making her way to an intersection when the glove compartment flipped open. Aubrey groaned in annoyance. It had been doing that for some time and she was yet to get it fixed.

Several important things fell out; her wallet, her license, her handgun. Aubrey gave the road one last sweep with her eyes before leaning down to pick them all up. Her hand had barely grazed the barrel of her gun when she heard a car honking loudly at her.

The sound came closer and that was the last thing she heard before her truck was flipped over and everything went black.

* * *

**reviews are greatly appreciated. ^^**


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